The Renaissance Restored: Paintings Conservation and the Birth of Modern Art History in Nineteenth-Century Europe
by Matthew Hayes
J. Paul Getty Trust, The, 2021 Paper: 978-1-60606-696-6 | eISBN: 978-1-60606-722-2 Library of Congress Classification ND615 Dewey Decimal Classification 759.509034
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK This handsomely illustrated volume traces the intersections of art history and paintings restoration in nineteenth-century Europe.
Repairing works of art and writing about them—the practices that became art conservation and art history—share a common ancestry. By the nineteenth century the two fields had become inseparably linked. While the art historical scholarship of this period has been widely studied, its restoration practices have received less scrutiny—until now.
This book charts the intersections between art history and conservation in the treatment of Italian Renaissance paintings in nineteenth-century Europe. Initial chapters discuss the restoration of works by Giotto and Titian, framed by the contemporary scholarship of art historians such as Jacob Burckhardt, G. B. Cavalcaselle, and Joseph Crowe that was redefining the earlier age. Subsequent chapters recount how paintings conservation was integrated into museum settings. The narrative uses period texts, unpublished archival materials, and historical photographs in probing how paintings looked at a time when scholars were writing the foundational texts of art history, and how contemporary restorers were negotiating the appearances of these works. The book proposes a model for a new conservation history, object focused yet enriched by consideration of a wider cultural horizon.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Matthew Hayes is a paintings conservator in private practice and founding director of the Pietro Edwards Society for Art Conservation in New York City.
REVIEWS
“A conservator makes the case that in 19th-century Europe, restoring Renaissance masterpieces wasn't just a matter of upkeep: it also led to the kind of close study that constitutes art history as we know it. Were it not for the cleaning and repairing of works by Giotto and Titian, Hayes proposes, we wouldn't look at art the way we do today.”
— ARTnews
“Important new book. . . . [Sheds] new light on neglected practitioners while offering a fresh perspective on familiar art historians.”
— Luke Uglow, APOLLO
“This book is for anyone with an interest in Renaissance artworks and the history of their collection and conservation. . . . The accuracy of the information and images are superb.”
— Kimberly Frost, News in Conservation
“The principal distinction of this carefully researched and dense account of the subject is that its author, Matthew Hayes, is a practicing paintings conservator. Rather more unusual is Hayes's keen and abiding interest in his profession's philosophical intent and historical evolution. This is not a ‘how-to’ book, but rather a ‘why and when’ one.”
— Marco Grassi, The New Criterion
“[An] enjoyable, intelligent, and well-written book on the history of art and of conservation in the nineteenth century.”
— Giorgio Bonsanti, The Burlington Magazine
“A book of great interest, aimed at capturing the interaction between art history and conservation during the nineteenth century, i.e. the century that saw the respective professional figures getting a ‘modern’ shape.”
— Giovanni Mazzaferro, Letteratura artistica
“A detailed, intelligent account of the development and correlations between painting conservation and the emergence of art history in nineteenth-century Europe.”
— Andrea Walton, ARLIS/NA
“The volume paints an interesting picture of the different materialisations of the dialogue between art history and conservation throughout the century.”
— Maartje Stols-Witlox, Journal of Art Historiography
TABLE OF CONTENTS
cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents Page
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction Shared Histories
Chapter 1 Finding Giotto in Florence
Chapter 2 Titian and the Weight of Tradition
Chapter 3 Charles Eastlake as Director of Conservation
Chapter 4 Bode, Hauser, and the Renaissance Museum
Conclusion Restoration and the Renaissance in the Nineteenth Century
The Renaissance Restored: Paintings Conservation and the Birth of Modern Art History in Nineteenth-Century Europe
by Matthew Hayes
J. Paul Getty Trust, The, 2021 Paper: 978-1-60606-696-6 eISBN: 978-1-60606-722-2
This handsomely illustrated volume traces the intersections of art history and paintings restoration in nineteenth-century Europe.
Repairing works of art and writing about them—the practices that became art conservation and art history—share a common ancestry. By the nineteenth century the two fields had become inseparably linked. While the art historical scholarship of this period has been widely studied, its restoration practices have received less scrutiny—until now.
This book charts the intersections between art history and conservation in the treatment of Italian Renaissance paintings in nineteenth-century Europe. Initial chapters discuss the restoration of works by Giotto and Titian, framed by the contemporary scholarship of art historians such as Jacob Burckhardt, G. B. Cavalcaselle, and Joseph Crowe that was redefining the earlier age. Subsequent chapters recount how paintings conservation was integrated into museum settings. The narrative uses period texts, unpublished archival materials, and historical photographs in probing how paintings looked at a time when scholars were writing the foundational texts of art history, and how contemporary restorers were negotiating the appearances of these works. The book proposes a model for a new conservation history, object focused yet enriched by consideration of a wider cultural horizon.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Matthew Hayes is a paintings conservator in private practice and founding director of the Pietro Edwards Society for Art Conservation in New York City.
REVIEWS
“A conservator makes the case that in 19th-century Europe, restoring Renaissance masterpieces wasn't just a matter of upkeep: it also led to the kind of close study that constitutes art history as we know it. Were it not for the cleaning and repairing of works by Giotto and Titian, Hayes proposes, we wouldn't look at art the way we do today.”
— ARTnews
“Important new book. . . . [Sheds] new light on neglected practitioners while offering a fresh perspective on familiar art historians.”
— Luke Uglow, APOLLO
“This book is for anyone with an interest in Renaissance artworks and the history of their collection and conservation. . . . The accuracy of the information and images are superb.”
— Kimberly Frost, News in Conservation
“The principal distinction of this carefully researched and dense account of the subject is that its author, Matthew Hayes, is a practicing paintings conservator. Rather more unusual is Hayes's keen and abiding interest in his profession's philosophical intent and historical evolution. This is not a ‘how-to’ book, but rather a ‘why and when’ one.”
— Marco Grassi, The New Criterion
“[An] enjoyable, intelligent, and well-written book on the history of art and of conservation in the nineteenth century.”
— Giorgio Bonsanti, The Burlington Magazine
“A book of great interest, aimed at capturing the interaction between art history and conservation during the nineteenth century, i.e. the century that saw the respective professional figures getting a ‘modern’ shape.”
— Giovanni Mazzaferro, Letteratura artistica
“A detailed, intelligent account of the development and correlations between painting conservation and the emergence of art history in nineteenth-century Europe.”
— Andrea Walton, ARLIS/NA
“The volume paints an interesting picture of the different materialisations of the dialogue between art history and conservation throughout the century.”
— Maartje Stols-Witlox, Journal of Art Historiography
TABLE OF CONTENTS
cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents Page
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction Shared Histories
Chapter 1 Finding Giotto in Florence
Chapter 2 Titian and the Weight of Tradition
Chapter 3 Charles Eastlake as Director of Conservation
Chapter 4 Bode, Hauser, and the Renaissance Museum
Conclusion Restoration and the Renaissance in the Nineteenth Century
Notes
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
Index
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC